Wilmington Friends School, the oldest existing school in Delaware, is a preschool through 12th grade Quaker school in Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

. The school was founded in 1748 by members of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers).

Wilmington Friends School

Wilmington Friends School originally aimed to provide education for children belonging to the Society of Friends and to poor children, whatever their race, religion, or family's financial circumstance. Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 historian Benjamin Ferris

Benjamin Ferris

Benjamin Ferris was a watchmaker and historian from Wilmington, Delaware.Ferris was born the sixth of seven children to Ziba Ferris and Edith Sharpless in a house on the northeast corner of Third and Shipley Streets in Wilmington...

 wrote in the 19th century "Thousands of children have there received the first rudiments of an English education."

As Delaware started offering public education, the School moved toward its current all college-preparatory program. In 1937, the Friends School moved from its original site to its current location in Alapocas, just outside the city.

Wilmington Friends School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...

, and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization

International Baccalaureate Organization

The International Baccalaureate , formerly the International Baccalaureate Organization , is an international educational foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and founded in 1968. IB offers three educational programmes for children ages 3–19.The organization's name and logo were changed...

 and School Year Abroad

School Year Abroad

School Year Abroad is an academic program which places American high school juniors, seniors, and post-graduates in 5 countries including China, Italy, France, Spain or Vietnam for a year. Students intensively learn the respective language of their country and live with a host family...

. Friends integrates global perspective throughout its curriculum, and emphasizes athletics, the arts, and service as integral to the program of studies.

External links

• Wilmington Friends School website